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December Luncheon: Paula Moran Speaks to VSRA Membership

December LUNCHEON: Paula Moran Addresses VSRA Membership

Paula Moran, President/CEO, United Services Organizations (USO)

The December General Membership Luncheon took place on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, and was held at the Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel. The President and CEO of United Services Organizations, Paula Moran was the meeting’s guest speaker.

Paula began her presentation by providing some background history about the USO, such as how the nonprofit charitable corporation has been supporting members of the armed forces and their families since 1941. The USO serves to both provide entertainment to the troops and their families and to act as a “home away from home”.

As part of her presentation, she described how the USO is 100% free of charge, with a large part of the funding provided through community support and charitable donations. She also noted how over 220,000 total service instances were provided by the USO in 2019. Ms. Moran emphasized how Hampton Roads, with its preponderant military service members, has a total of 11 USO Comfort Centers for these military service members and their families to access.

Paula discussed how the USO doesn’t only provide entertainment to the troops away from home, but also provides “Warrior and Family Care”, which focuses on addressing the needs of the wounded, ill and injured service members and their families. Programs include Outdoor Adventure Teams (OATs) and Warrior Week Virginia Beach, which focus on accommodating injured service members to provide fun, athletic activities for the whole family. Other family programs include Little Patriots Trunk Hop, which sports an average five to six thousand in attendance, and Operation Holiday Spirit, which tries to ensure no military family goes without the festivities of Christmas.

Paula then discussed a critical area that the USO addresses, which is the support it provides to Gold Star Family members, which are family members that have lost a beloved relative in the armed services. Programs that support this role include family member access to centers and special programs, such as the Fallen Warrior Room located at Norfolk International Airport, where family members have a peaceful place to wait for the body of a fallen loved one to arrive from overseas.

After covering various other support programs provided by the USO, Paula dove into the details surrounding the fundraising channels that help the USO stay active. This includes entertainment events such as gambling nights on the Spirit of Norfolk, the Warrior and Knights of Columbus Golf Tournaments, and the Home for the Holidays concert series. She then proudly noted that these events would not be possible without the close to 1000 local volunteers and their dedication to supporting the mission of the USO.

 

Click Here to Access Paula Moran's Presentation


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